Globalization under attack

Winarno Zain
Commissioner in a publicly listed oil and gas service company

PREMIUM

Jakarta / Thu, June 20, 2019 / 10:26 am

Aerial view of many containers and cranes with container ship at industrial port. (Shutterstock.com/Creativa Images)

In 2011, Dani Rodrik in his book The Globalization Paradox wrote: “Historically, large trade imbalances have created large fertile ground for protectionism. If China’s trade surplus does not shrink, the United States will likely resort to trade barriers directed at China’s exports, inviting retaliation from China. A major political backlash against China’s trade and globalization will become a real possibility”. What Rodrik wrote eight years ago then is no longer a possibility. It has become a reality. President Donald Trump, who was irritated by the US$500 billion annual US trade deficits with China, has slammed imports from China with huge tariffs increases, inviting retaliation from China to impose tariffs on imports from the US. Trump’s action was the latest example of the growing backlash against globalization. Discontent against glob...